Do you know that I orginally wrote about 15,000 words of this story before I began posting so I'd always be ahead of myself? *Sigh* But I recieved so much wonderful feedback I craved more and so I'd post and post and... ahh I ran out of story! So that's why there was such a delay with that chapter. I'm very sorry. But the many graphic little friends and men with pointy sticks definitely spurred me on to write! So without delay... Chapter 11.
From part 10...
They approached a door in the side of the tank and Lois, under instruction, opened it up. She turned to face Lexy, ready to offer a biting comment and finally deciding it was time to screw the plan and take her chances, when she felt the hands on her back. A fierce shove and Lois was plummeting down, screaming as she hit the black water. She surfaced, sputtering and yelling obscenities at Lexy, still framed by the light coming in from the door.
“Goodbye, Lois Lane.”
And then the door was shut, and Lois was locked in complete and butter thick darkness.
______________________
A rough knock sounded at Clark Kent’s door, but he was still up. He hadn’t been able to sleep since Lois had left and her scent still infused the apartment, a special brand of torture. He answered the door, too tired to check who it was. His sleepy eyes perked up when he saw the police officer standing on his doorstep, a frown evident in every crease of his face.
“Officer? Can I help you?”
“You can come down to the station for questioning, sir.”
“Questioning? For what?”
“On the suspicion of indecency with a child.”
Part 11
Ten minutes later, Clark found himself in the back of a police car, having only vague memories of acquiescing in a state of shock. He was being brought in for questioning? For indecency with a child? But Lois was 23! And they had hardly even begun anything indecent.
The fact that they never would struck him heavily in the chest.
But besides the physical aspect of their tumultuous relationship, he’d never sit and find out what made her tick. He’d never find out her favorite movies. He could never buy her a Christmas present. He could never celebrate the holidays with her in Smallville. The list went on and on and Clark sunk into his seat and a further state of depression. He could wriggle himself out of this situation, he thought dully, if he just told what he knew and admitted that Lois was 23 and had been consenting.
It’s what a smart man would do. Hell, it was what an idiotic man would do.
Then why had he allowed himself to be dragged into the cop car and driven to the station? Why wasn’t he gripping the wire separating him from the front seat and yelling himself hoarse? Clark couldn’t summon the energy. He stared moodily out of the car window, his face periodically illuminated by the yellow light of the streetlamps.
They pulled up in front of the police station, Clark still silent. After going through the routine documentation of his visit, the man who had appeared on his doorstep brought him into a room and sat down with him. The pictures were printed out and spread on the table.
“Is this you and your student?” The man looked somber and Clark’s heart slipped a little down his ribcage. How did he respond to this? Lois’ cover relied on it! This story meant the world to her, that much was obvious. A bitter pang shot through his body at the thought that she would sacrifice their love and him for a mere job. But even though he might be justified in ratting her out, it wasn’t his story to tell.
Besides, he loved her. It galled him, but he did. What was it that he had said? Unconditionally? It sounded like something out of a romance novel. Did he love her unconditionally? Despite the fact that she had made some terrible choices?
Clark opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on the officer.
“With all due respect, officer, it isn’t my place to answer that question. If you could bring in the woman in question, a Lois Lane, I would like to leave the explanation up to her.”
“You’re skating on thin ice as it is, Kent. What makes you think I’m going to sit here and wait for some girl to show? So you can see her and intimidate her into lying for you?”
The heat in Clark’s gaze cooled to a dangerous level of frost as he squared off against the police officer.
“I would never, not in a million years, force Lois to do something she didn’t want to do,” Clark spoke in a deadly level voice. “And I would never expect her to lie for me.”
“What is she going to tell me that you can’t?”
Clark sighed and raked a frustrated hand through his hair. “It’s complicated. Listen, I guarantee she’ll come if you let her know what happened. If I offer to stay here, on an indefinite basis, until she arrives, would you agree? If she doesn’t answer your questions to your satisfaction then I’ll accept whatever questioning and punishment the courts decide.”
“This is extremely unorthodox.”
“Please, sir. I can’t…” Clark drifted off. He couldn’t bring himself to ruining the cover Lois had spent so many long hours cultivating. “Please. I promise things aren’t as they seem. I know this may sound strange, but talk to Lois first. Lock me up until she gets here if you’d like. I can take it.”
The officer thought the man was stark raving mad, but as his eyes locked onto his suspect’s imploring ones, he relented slightly.
“You can stay in this room. I’m locking the door,” The man hesitated and shifted from foot to foot. “I’ll try my best to get a hold of this girl and bring her in so I can talk to her, ok?”
“Don’t frighten her.”
The officer rolled his eyes. “You’ve got bigger problems than that, buddy. Make any wrong moves and you’re locked in the slammer for the night, got that?”
Clark nodded and the man walked out muttering.
Left in a room that was empty save for the metal folding chair and a small card table, Clark sighed and leaned his head on his hand.
He hoped he hadn’t overestimated Lois’ esteem for him.
____________________
Inside the water tower, Lois’ arms and legs were burning with the exertion of treading water. She had swum to the side of the tower, but her questing hands met cold, flat steel. She knew there had to be a ladder in there somewhere, but its exact spot was eluding her.
She shivered at her reality. Locked in the tower. She couldn’t tell if she had her eyes open or closed. It was a terrifying sensation, lacking one of her key senses. Lois was keenly aware of just how heightened her other senses were. She could smell the tang of the water sloshing around her. Death by drowning. She had read about it… it was supposed to be horrible.
It just wasn’t fair. There were so many things she hadn’t done. And there was Clark. Her heart ached just as fiercely as her limbs as she thought about the way they had left things. Everything seemed so obvious now. She had hurt him so very badly with her admission without a thought to the way it might play out in his mind.
But he had hurt her too, the little voice in her head spoke up softly.
Sniffling a little, Lois continued to circle the tower in search of the ever elusive ladder. It didn’t matter who had hurt who the most. Lois softly inhaled as she remembered the tender way he had looked at her in those few blissful moments that all was right in the world. He had looked at her like she was the most beautiful woman alive and someone to be treasured. Her cold hand skimmed her shoulder in a mockery of the way he had done it.
A creaking above zinged through the still water tower.
The door was opening! Lois hesitated, could it be Lexy come to finish the job? But before she could decide whether to dive under or risk detection, the door slammed open with a heavy male grunt of exertion.
Male?! Was it Clark? Had he followed her here? There was very little backlight to illuminate the figure. The man stared at her for a long while before he spoke.
“Lois, ma cherie, we meet again.”
“Claude?!”
“The one and only. In a bind, are we?”
With the dim light let in by the door, Lois could see the ladder bolted to the side of the tower about twenty feet from her current position. She sliced through the water with a clean front stroke, not completely trusting Claude not to slam the door in her face. She started to climb the ladder, though her waterlogged dress slowed her down slightly.
“Why are you here? How did you even know I was in here? Do you normally open water towers and expect to find women in them?” Lois paused on the ladder and squinted up at him. “Are you dumping a body?”
Claude leaned against the side of the door and folded his arms. “Are you going to climb out of there or question me all day?”
Grumbling slightly, Lois continued the slow climb up, slipping and sliding on the steps. When she neared the top, Claude extended one tanned forearm and she grasped his wrist. He helped pull her up, rubbing her back while she choked and sputtered.
“T-thanks.”
“Not a problem at all,” he quirked an eyebrow at her. “Do you feel like you owe me a debt of servitude?”
“Are you out of your mind?”
Claude heaved a sigh and handed her his jacket. “Just checking.”
They started down the water tower, the rungs cold and slippery beneath her bare feet. The wind howled viciously around them, and Lois shut her mouth, focusing all her energy on placing one foot down and then the other.
When she was six feet off the ground, she slipped, landing in an ungraceful heap at the foot of the tower. Claude leaped down a moment later, lithe as a cat and watched as she disentangled herself.
As she was standing, she thought of her purse, still floating in the tower.
“No! Damn it!”
Claude started at the violent shout and the followed string of expletives. “Are you all right?” He finally asked when she had finished cursing him and every inanimate object in the near vicinity.
“Fine,” she ground out. Her tape recorder was now waterlogged and submerged at the bottom of the Metropolis water tower. Her incontrovertible evidence, gone! She wanted to scream. She briefly entertained the notion of climbing the tower to dive for the tape, but dismissed it a second later as ridiculous.
_____________________
Clark had been moved from the locked questioning room into a cell full of men.
The officer who had brought him in grimaced at him in an expression that could be construed as vaguely apologetic. “We haven’t been able to locate Miss Lane yet and we need that room. Now if you’re dead set on waiting for her, we’re going to have to put you in the cell.” The man paused, giving Clark a searching glance. “If you just submit to our questioning now, we could send you on home.”
“Sorry,” Clark said shortly, eyeing the cell with distaste. “I’ll wait here.”
“Suit yourself,” The man held open the door and kept the other inmates at bay with a fierce glare. Clark held his head high as he walked in, ignoring the taunts and jeers.
All surfaces to sit on were occupied, so Clark opted to stand against the wall, his hands folded behind his back. When the inmates looked him over and saw no threat, they resumed chattering and flexing, ignoring him completely.
Which, in all honesty, was fine with him. He leaned his weight against the wall, idly imagining the repercussions of flicking the wall with his pinky and sending it flying. It was a nice little daydream, he though with a ghost of a smile flickering across his face. And while he was dreaming, he might as well add a 23… no, 27 year old Lois Lane in there. One who didn’t get her kicks by sticking him in jail.
His conscience immediately berated him for such thoughts. It wasn’t all Lois’ fault. Heck, he really had no one to blame but himself. What had he been thinking? What if she really had been 17? God, he would have never been able to live with himself. Either way, 17 or 23, he was a few years older than her and therefore it was his responsibility to be liable for the situation he had helped arise.
Even if his heart still stuttered a little when she came near. And despite that fact that she was hands down the most intelligent and driven woman he had ever had the privilege to meet. She was someone who fought for the little people, just like he had aspired to do when he earned his teaching degree. While she was piling on problem after problem and slowly driving him crazy, she lightened his heart in a way that felt so foreign he barely recognized it.
He checked his watch and his heart beat a little faster in his chest. They should have been able to find her by now. She had left his apartment extremely upset. Why hadn’t he thought of her safety earlier? Clark gripped the bench next to him, his breathing coming quicker now as his thoughts wildly reeled. She was wandering around the city at night dressed in that… his brain couldn’t even think of a word for the dress. It was at first glance obscenely short and inappropriate. It was no matter that it completely took his breath away. It meant that she was going around stealing the breath from the men in Metropolis left and right and he wasn’t…able…to…protect…her.
For the first time since he had been hauled away from his home to be questioned for a crime he had not committed, he felt a frisson of anger. He marched to the gate and grabbed the bars.
“Did you find her?” he called to the man flipping a magazine at the end of the row of cells. “Is she okay?”
The man didn’t even flinch.
“Where is she?” He said a little more loudly. “Is she safe?”
The man licked a finger and turned the page disinterestedly.
Clark grabbed the bar and only a supreme effort of will stopped him from heaving it apart. “Did you find Lois Lane?!” He shouted in the hall. The men around him stopped their conversations to look at him like he was a bizarre sideshow.
The door to the hall opened and the police officer who had been so obliging gave him a hard stare. “You ready to talk to us now, Kent?”
Clark lowered his voice considerably. “Please, Officer, you should have found her by now. Is she okay? Can I go look for her?”
“That’s a good one, Kent. Original, too. Got to give you points for creativity.”
“I’m not trying to bust loose! In case you’ve forgot, sir,” Clark spoke the last word with a heavy layer of sarcasm as his anger and fear drove out his ingrained respect. “You haven’t arrested me! I’m here on my own free will!”
There was a general murmur behind him and his sensitive hearing picked out a few different men calling him a barrage of names he wouldn’t dare utter in front of his mother.
“Yeah, because I gave into your pathetic whining,” The officer, whose badge read O’Brien, said. “Now get up, you’re answering these questions whether you want to or not,” the man opened the door and pulled Clark out by the arm. “Honestly, I don’t know why I gave you a shot. Guess I thought you were different.”
“Just find her,” Clark gritted out. “She’s in trouble!”
“The only person that little lady has to fear is you, apparently. Now come on.”
O’Brien led Clark down the hall and back into the questioning room.
“Here we are again. Listen, bud, you’re going to cause me hell at home with the missus. I told her I’d be home at a decent hour tonight.” O’Brien checked his watch. “Know what time it is?”
Clark raised his eyebrow and nodded to the clock on the wall.
“That’s right, boy. It’s later than decent. And I’ve got a man running around Metropolis looking for that poor girl for you. Did you ever think of all the grief you’d cause when you came onto that young child?”
“I didn’t come onto her!” Clark slammed his hand flat on the table. As soon as the words left his mouth, he bitterly wished he could take them back. He had promised himself he’d wait for Lois to explain things! He had done wrong by her in too many different ways. He didn’t want to be responsible for blowing her cover as well.
“Sir, I think she’s in trouble. Why else wouldn’t she be at home right now? It’s late and she’s alone in the city,” Clark roughly ran his hand through his hair. “My God, please let me go look for her.”
“There you go again with that. You think I’m going to let you waltz right out of here?”
Clark bit his lip, his frustration splintering his resolve as he stared at the officer in dismay.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you. But I want you to know that I’d have this any other way. But I need to be out looking for her,” his voice broke slightly. He didn’t know why he felt so certain she was in trouble, but ever since the possibility had occurred to him, it hadn’t relinquished his nerves. “You see, Lois Lane came to my class about a month and a half ago…”
Clark began his story, recounting the crucial pieces to his tale to the officer. He finally began to explain about that night, and though he paused for a moment when it came time to reveal the truth, he never faltered in his resolve. Soon the entire story was laid bare on the table and Clark had blown Lois’ cover to shreds.
__________________________
The tall Frenchman dressed all in black and the scowling woman wearing a soaking wet dress made an odd pair as they ambled to the gate. They had walked in silence for a few minutes before Claude stopped and faced Lois.
“I have some news for you, Lois,” he said seriously. “And you probably won’t like it. I heard from an impeccable source that the police have taken in that man you dined with, your English teacher?”
In a foul mood and ready to tell Claude off for pausing their traveling while she was freezing, Lois Lane stiffened at the words.
“Clark Kent? Why do the police have Clark? Is he okay?”
Patting her shoulder sympathetically, Claude tipped her chin to meet his gaze. “My source tells me that they have him in on suspicion of rape.”
“Rape? What? Are you kidding? Clark would never do anything like that.” Lois paused and glared at him. “Why are you lying, Malfois? What are you trying to pull?”
Removing Lois’ hands off him with a disgusted sweep of his arm, Claude looked at her coldly. “Perhaps the charge isn’t rape. Did you think about what else it could be? Perhaps the charge was indecency with a child. Someone underage. Do you know the legal age of consent in Metropolis, Lois?”
A horrible suspicion was dawning on Lois as Claude spoke.
“You mean… you can’t be talking about me. I’m 23-years-old! Clark knows that!”
“Does he now? Well the authorities don’t, Lois. And I can’t imagine he’s happy to be dragged out of bed to be questioned. Do you honestly think he will ruin your cover? That man is an overgrown boy scout and he adores you.”
“No…”
“I talked to my source at the police office. Kent’s refused to be questioned until you come to the station. Word is they’re going to lock him up for good if you’re not there.”
“I…” All thoughts of her story and her tape recorder fled her mind. “I have to go.”
As Claude watched her sprint across the field, he grinned and held up his own pocketed recorded. “So do I, Lois. So do I.”
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*points to sig* Ficathon? Anyone? Not too late to sign up! Okay, done with the promoting. *bites lip* Let me know what you think of the chapter, okay? I hope it lived up to expectations.
Laura
